


Burn

by discordiansamba



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6107028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discordiansamba/pseuds/discordiansamba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beware the Florence Nightingale Effect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burn

When he winced when Valerie applied the antibiotic, she wanted to swat him.

Really, where on Earth had Danny Fenton come from anyways? She had been chasing that blasted Phantom when a ghost had gotten in her way, which they had in turn, both chased off. However, in doing so, she lost her chance to catch the elusive Phantom, and he once more had slipped through her fingers. That was when she had found Danny Fenton, groaning in pain from what appeared to be a mild, but rather large burn on his left forearm.

Her first reaction, of course, was to offer him a ride to the nearest hospital. On her jet sled, they could be there in under a minute. It didn't look bad, certainly far from fatal, but it also wasn't the kind of thing you wanted to go without proper treatment. But Danny had nixed that idea, a look of panic rising in his face that she couldn't understand. Wasn't Tucker the one who hated hospitals? She recalled him having to cower behind either Danny or Sam whenever he passed the nurse's office at school.

Well, maybe it had something to do with when that ghost infected a bunch of kids from Casper High with some kind of weird ghost bug, and dragged them off to a hospital that looked like something from a horror movie. If that was the case, Valerie couldn't really blame him.

Of course, when he had insisted he could treat it on his own, Valerie had just rolled her eyes. As if Danny could treat a burn- he didn't look like he knew the first thing about first aid, whereas she had made sure to go and get herself certified once she began this whole ghost hunting thing. Besides, if Danny had gotten caught in the crossfire like she suspected he had, then she was partly at fault for his injury- therefore it was right that she should be the one to do something about it.

"Just sit still and stop squirming." Valerie said, frowning deeply as she put aside the antibiotic. "You big baby."

They hadn't really spoken since she had gotten her new suit, Valerie thought. Their short lived relationship hadn't exactly lasted very long. It was too dangerous for him to hang around her, she thought- and indeed, it seemed that she was right, as she looked up at the red that was creeping up his forearm. No doubt it would take awhile to heal.

"Sorry." Danny gave her a small laugh. "It just stings a little." He told her.

"This is no joke, Danny." Valerie said, grumbling at him. "What were you thinking, hanging around the area of a ghost attack? You could have gotten off much worse." She warned him, putting away the antibiotic and pulling out some bandages.

"I guess I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He said, unable to meet her gaze- he was lying to her, she knew that much. But about what, and why?

She decided not to press it this time, seeing as he was already hurt. "Well, try not to be next time." She said, motioning for him to hold up his arm, to which he complied. She secured the bandages around his arm, making sure to wrap them just tight enough to keep them in place without cutting off his blood flow. "Make sure you keep that thing washed and clean, and go see a doctor if it starts turning weird colors."

"Oh right, I will." Danny promised. 

There was another lie, she thought. Seriously, what was his deal with doctors? She guessed that Danny had a lower than normal body temperature, if his cold touch was anything to go by, but wouldn't something like that be on his medical history anyways? She didn't understand why he seemed to be so worried about the prospect.

"But, thanks Valerie." Danny said, flashing her that damned grin of his- the one that she liked so much. Against her will, she could feel her face heating up, blood rushing to her cheeks. "You didn't have to do this."

"Of course I did!" She said, and this time she did swat him, right upside the head. "You got hurt because you got caught up in the crossfire, didn't you? I should have made sure there weren't any civilians around before I engaged with either Phantom or the other ghost. That was my fault."

"No, it wasn't." Danny said, a small flinch crossing through his gaze as he listened to her. "It's not your fault, Valerie. Like you said, I shouldn't have been around here. Besides, it's just it's size that's big, that's all. It'll recover in short order. I've gotten worse before."

Oh how he wished that he could put his foot in his mouth right now.

_"What?!"_ Valerie almost hissed, her eyes going wide in shock, before narrowing in anger. "What do you mean by that?"

"Uh you know... f-from Dash. H-he leaves some pretty hefty bruises!" He lied, averting his eyes, wanting to sink right into the Earth right now. "And you know my parents are ghost hunters too, so sometimes I get mixed up in all that and just- don't worry about it Valerie."

"Oh no, I'm going to worry about it." Valerie said, gathering up her first aid kit and sticking it back in the hidden compartment on her jet sled. She stood up then, offering Danny a hand up. Of course she was worried! Especially since once again, Danny seemed to be lying to her- or at least, not telling her the whole truth.

Danny took it, getting himself to his feet. "Seriously, Val, it's okay." He reassured her. "Something like this isn't a big deal, that's what I was trying to say. I guess I just wanted to say that you shouldn't beat yourself up over things like this? I mean, you're trying to do good by hunting ghosts, right?"

Although she could stand to go after Phantom a little less, he thought.

Valerie heaved a sigh. "Still." She said, frowning at him. "At least let me drop you off back at home, Danny, if you won't let me take you to the hospital."

After casting a suspicious eye towards her jet sled, Danny gave her a small nod. "Yeah, that sounds just fine. Thanks, Val. I owe you one."

"No you don't. We're friends, right?" She asked, stepping on the jet sled, offering him a hand up. Danny took it, pulling himself up with a kind of effortless ease that vaguely surprised her.

Then again, Danny Fenton always had been full of surprises.

His face fell a little at her words, but he quickly gave her small smile. "Yeah, friends." He said, but the red flush that emerged on his cheeks gave him away when she had him place his hands on her shoulders, instructing him to hang on tight.

More than anything, Valerie wished that she had been looking out for him in the first place, so treating his stupid burn wouldn't remind her of the fact that she was still very much in love with him.


End file.
